SLP™ Program

The Startup Leadership Program (SLP) is a highly selective, global, world-class training program and lifelong global network for outstanding founders, leaders, and innovators who want to become startup CEOs. Classes are held on evenings or weekends. We take no equity.
The program began in Boston in 2006 with seven Fellows (participants). It has grown to 28 cities in 13 countries. Every year 15-25 Fellows join the program in every city. This year 500 Fellows will go through the program as a single class.
Our program is truly global. You can start in one city, but attend any class in any city worldwide. During the program, and for life, you can apply to pitch at investor demo days on three continents, and build relationships with growing numbers of entrepreneurs in your sector.
SLP Fellows (participants) have founded more than 1,300 successful startups including ixigo, Innoz, Momelan, Runkeeper, SideTour, Shareaholic, Ubersense, Savored, Voicetap, and many others, which have collectively raised more than $500M in funding. Many have been acquired. It is a measure of the caliber of the people in the program.

Qualifications

Your Age: We do not record age information, but we believe our youngest Fellow was 19 and oldest was 60 when they joined.
Your Sector: 42 Subsectors including but not limited to Technology, Lifesciences, Fintech, Manufacturing, Consumer, Food & Beverages, CleanTech and Social Enterprise
Your Experience: A record of leadership and achievement (not necessarily in a startup), visible passion for SLP and actions that indicate you will participate in our community
Your Aspiration: A clear indication that you either founded or run a startup, are an innovator or an idea generator who would like to turn an idea into a company, or are a VC who wants to be closer to entrepreneurs.

15 reasons to join the Startup Leadership Program

Brochures

Curriculum

Program schedule (US, UK, France, Japan & Russia)

The program is six months long with 12 classes in total, adding up to 60 hours of classroom activity. This includes ten 3-hour long classes held approximately every three weeks on a weekday evening (6-9 PM) PLUS Two day-long classes held on Saturdays at the start and the end of the program. The program begins by mid-September and ends around mid-March.

Program schedule (Israel)

The program is six months long with 12 classes in total, adding up to 60 hours of classroom activity. This includes ten 3-hour long classes held approximately every three weeks on a weekday evening (6-9 PM) PLUS Two day-long classes held on Saturdays at the start and the end of the program. The program begins by September 15 and ends by March 15.

Program schedule (Australia)

The program is five months long with 14 classes in total, adding up to 60 hours of classroom and coordinated activity. This includes twelve 3-hour long classes held every week on a weekday evening (6-9 PM) PLUS Two day-long classes held on Saturdays at the start and the end of the program. The program begins by October 15 and ends by March 15, with a break over Christmas/ New Year.

Program schedule (India)

The program is six months long with 10 classes in total. Classes in India are day-long classes. All classes are held on Saturdays (9 am-5 PM) The program begins by September 15 and ends by March 15.

Program schedule (China & Taiwan)

The program is four months long with 12 classes in total, adding up to 60 hours of classroom activity. This includes ten 3-hour long classes held every two weeks on a weekday evening (6-9 PM) PLUS Two day-long classes held on Saturdays at the start and the end of the program. The program begins on September 1 and ends by December 1.

Expectations

Paying it forward: 20 hours of your time

The passion for our Fellows for SLP comes from the principles of being equal stakeholders in the Program as those who started it. We were inspired by John Wood (Author of Room to Read: Why I left Microsoft to change the world) who was able to ignite real pride and passion from villagers who built the school. Due to this, everyone in the program gives 20 hours of your time to helping run the program over the six months by volunteering for one or more activities such as helping to run a simulation, build or run a class, blog about a speaker, hold a social or organize brainstorming and feedback sessions for Fellows. We have no full-time staff, so everything we do is done by our Program Teams with the support of our Fellows. This builds the sort of passion and sense of ownership that our Fellows have for the Program.

Attendance

We understand that you may get busy, and at times may not be able to make a class. We have seen our most successful Fellows are able to juggle job, classes, family and fundraising, and somehow make it not only work, they also find time to give advice to other Fellows on their startups. The friendships and networks you build are also incredibly important. Due to all this, we make attendance mandatory. We say if you miss more than two events without a valid reason, you may be asked to leave the program – if we don’t think you are contributing to the Program or the Network. So please carefully consider the time commitment carefully before submitting your application. Its only 60 hours in total, but we think it could be transformational. So we pay attention to your commitment.

Fees

Free to apply. The Fees below are only payable when you are admitted, within 7 days of receiving the information that you are admitted.

What is this money used for?
Our pricing is based on what it costs to run the program. The fees you pay are used to cover the costs of providing you with food and beverages, paying for case studies, and for gifts for various distinguished speakers, mentors and judges who give their time at no cost to our program.

Refund Policy
If you are asked to leave the Program because of lack of attendance, or drop out of the Program, there are no refunds.

History & Mission

SLP was started in Boston in 2006 in Boston by Anupendra Sharma (VC in Lifesciences, BITS Pilani alum) and Puran Dang (Entrepreneur, IIT Kharagpur) with 7 Fellows.